Transcript Money and Elections

Money and Elections
Where the real control is!
Campaign Spending

Presidential Election


Senatorial Election


Average is $1.43 million per campaign
Gubernatorial Election


Average is just over $3 million per campaign
Congressional Election


Obama spent over $500 million dollars
Last CA election was $54 million to win
Most spending is on television advertising
Sources of Funding

Private and Public Sources

Small contributions




Large donations from wealthy families
Candidate spending their own money
Various non-party groups



Less than $50, only 10% of voters contribute
Political Action Committees (PAC)—political arm of special interest groups
Public funds from national and state treasuries
Why people, corporations, interest give



Form of political participation
Believe in the party or cause
Quid pro quo
Regulating Campaign Finance


Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971
FECA Amendments of 1974 & 1976
Response to Watergate
 Response to Buckley v. Valeo



Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002
Congress cannot regulate state and local
elections
Federal Elections Commissions

Disclosure requirements


Limits on contributions






Anything larger than $200 must be disclosed
No more than $2000/candidate for primary and then for general
elections
No more than $5000 to a PAC
No more than $25,000 to political party
No more than $95,000 total in a 2-year election cycle
PAC contributions
Limits on expenditures

Can only be voluntary due to Buckley v. Valeo, 1976


Spending money is equated to free speech
Public funding of presidential campaigns
How can we fix this problem?

How do you feel about public financing of
political campaigns?


In other words, should tax dollars pay for campaigns
to allow poorer people to run and less influence
from special interest?
Any other solutions, or is there even a problem?
Interest Groups

Role of Interest Groups
Groups of like-minded persons who join together to
influence public policy at any level of gov’t
 Pros—exercising 1st Amendment right to petition &
assemble, people shaping policy, holds politicians
accountable
 Cons—those with the most money are those that get
political influence, sometimes what’s good for the
country is not good for some interest groups

Types of Interest Groups

Business Groups




National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)
Chamber of Commerce
National Restaurant Association
Labor Groups





AFL-CIO
UAW
UFW
Teamsters
YCTA
Interest Groups

Agricultural Groups
American Farm Bureau Federation
 National Grange
 National Dairy Council
 American Meat Institute


Professional Groups
AMA
 ABA
 NEA

Interest Groups

Promoting Causes







ACLU
Sierra Club
National Rifle Association
National Wildlife Federation
Right-to-Life
Planned Parenthood
Promoting Welfare





NAACP
American Legion
VFW
Mexican American Legal Defense
AARP
Interest Groups

Religious Organizations
National Councils of Churches
 National Catholic Welfare Council
 Salvation Army


Public-Interest Groups
Common Cause
 League of Women’s Voters
 Cal-Pirg

Interest Groups

What Interests Groups Do!
Influence public opinion
 Propaganda—what you are going to do tomorrow
 Influencing parties and elections



Make a list of interest groups that you think support each
party
Lobbying—gaining influence with politicians
through contributions or promise of votes or
promise of retribution